How To Color Your Icing
In the center are the primary colors – Red, Yellow, and Blue. From
these, all others are made.
In the inner ring are secondary colors – orange, green, violet, made by
mixing equal amounts of primary colors. Mix red and yellow for
orange, mix red and blue for violet, and mix blue and yellow for green.
In the outer ring are the tertiary colors – achieved by mixing varying
amounts of one primary color with the adjacent primary. Mix a large
amount of red with a small amount of blue and you will get a red-violet
color. Do the opposite for blue-violet. Increase or decrease amounts
form many hues in between.
White is an absence of color and black is a collection of the three primary colors in intense form.
Notes about Wilton Paste Colors
RED - There are three different reds - Christmas Red, a blue-toned red; Red-Red, an orange toned
red; and Red-No Taste, a blue toned red. Note: It can take as much as 1 oz. of red paste color to one
cup of icing to get a deep red.
GREEN - Leaf Green is a brighter green with more yellow than Kelly Green. Both of these greens
require very little color, how much color added depends on the tone of the green you want.
HOT PINK - Rose paste color will obtain hot pink with good results. Rose Petal is a soft, muted rose
color. Pink is a traditional pastel with a slight yellow tone.
BLUE - Royal Blue has a red tone. Sky Blue has a yellow tone.
DAFFODIL YELLOW - Daffodil Yellow is an all-natural food coloring and does not contain yellow #5.
(Many people are allergic to this). Daffodil Yellow currently contains alcohol all other colors do not.
COLOR BLENDING:
Color:
Parts:
Black Mixing black color IS possible, but you need to use very strong paste colors and a
LOT of it which makes the recipe bitter. A pinch of salt will help with the bitterness,
but the only way to get a good strong black is with a LOT of color. Be careful with
black staining anything it touches. Mix well. Use white icing or start with a dark
brown or chocolate icing and add black. Just keep adding more black color
SLOWLY until you reach your desired color. Remember colors darken as they sit,
so mix black a day ahead. Since black in a combination of all colors you could mix
left over color icing together, & then add black icing color. Because it takes such
a strong concentration of color to produce black, it is easier to buy black color.
Brown To make brown, mix red and green gel or paste color or melt unsweetened
chocolate or use cocoa powder and mix it into your white icing. Brown color
occasionally has a green overtone to it which occurs with the presence of acid in
the icing; lemon juice or cream of tartar, so omit. Also dissolving brown color in 1/4
teaspoon water before adding to icing will eliminate the green tone.
Red Making dark red icing can be a challenge. Make your icing a day ahead of time; it
will darken over 24 hours. Wilton No-Taste Red does not contain red #3 which
causes the bitter taste.
Purple If using purple color for buttercream icing make sure there is milk added for the
liquid. You’ll find your icing won’t fade blue as it crusts.
Pastels add 2 parts of white icing to 1 part of any colored icing
Apricot 2 Orange + 1 Golden Yellow
Aqua 5 Sky Blue + 1 Leaf Green
Avocado 4 Lemon Yellow + 1 Leaf Green + touch of black
Burgundy 5 Rose Pink + 1 Violet
Chartreuse 5 Lemon Yellow + 1 Leaf Green
Rust 8 Orange + 2 Red + 1 Brown
Copper 1 Golden Yellow + 1 Brown + 1 Xmas-Red
Hunter Green Kelly Green + small amount of black
Coral 3 Rose Pink + 2 Lemon Yellow
Lavender 5 Pink + 1 Violet
Jade Leaf green, Royal Blue and a touch of black
Silver (Gray) 1 Black + 1 Blue
Turquoise 6 Sky Blue + 1 Lemon Yellow
Teal 9 Sky Blue + small amount of Lemon Yellow
Dusty Rose 5 Rose Pink + 1 Violet
Mauve 5 Rose Pink + 2 Orange + 2 Red + 2 Black
Plum 1 Violet + a touch of Christmas Red
Gold 10 Lemon Yellow + 3 Orange + 1 Red
Warm Gold Use Golden Yellow with just a touch of brown.
Antique Gold Add just an extremely small touch of Leaf Green to golden yellow
Maroon 4 Red Red + 2 Burgundy
Ivory Use ivory paste
Moss Green 2 Violet + 3 Lemon Yellow
Navy Blue 1 Sky Blue + 1 Violet
Grape 1 Sky Blue + 6 Rose Pink
Raspberry 3 Rose Pink + 1 Christmas Red
Ruby Red 1 Red Red + 1 touch black
Icing Colors - Use paste or powder icing color. Icing color is designed for coloring icing. They are
concentrated, giving vivid or deep colors without changing the consistency of your icing. Using food
colors will thin your icing, and will limit your color options
Mixing Color in Icing - When mixing color always mix a small amount of color to experiment. Start
with base color and then add very small amounts of secondary color. If using paste, insert a
toothpick through the foil cover, then swirl the toothpick into the icing. Leaving the foil cover on the jar
will extend the life of your paste. Add small amounts of color at a time, using a fresh toothpick each
time, until you have the desired color. For red, royal blue, black, brown, or orange, remove the foil
cover and use the tip of a clean knife or spatula to add the paste to your icing. Blend the color,
making sure it is evenly distributed.
Royal icing requires more color than buttercream icing to achieve the same color intensity.
To keep the color consistent on the cake, mix enough color for the entire cake. It is difficult to match
the same shade of color again.
Intense Colors – When making deep colors, such as black, brown, red, orange or royal blue, use
paste food colors in larger amounts than normal. It can take as much as 1 oz. paste food color per
one cup to obtain deep colors. Deep colors are recommended for accent colors only.
Color Changes - Colors deepen in buttercream icings after setting and crusting. Color icing 1-2
hours before decorating and 24 in advance for dark colors. Colors might fade slightly in royal, boiled
or Color Flow icing after they have set.
Lemon juice or cream of tartar can cause colors to change, for example, violet will become blue. If the
recipe has one of these ingredients in it, omit it. In addition, water can cause color changes
depending upon your geographical area. If buttercream icing is made with water, replace some of the
water with milk or milk powder.
Marble Effects - By stacking different shades of tinted icing in your bag, you can achieve a marble
effect to your decorations.
Brush Striping - Produces more intense multi-colors because it is done with icing color brushed
directly on the side of a bag. Apply one or more stripes of icing color to the sides of the bag with a
decorating brush, and then fill the bag with white or tinted icing. Your icing will come out striped.
Spatula Striping – Produces two-tone and realistic flowers and figure piping. Use a spatula to strip
the side of a decorating bag with tinted icing. Fill the bag with white or a contrasting shade of icing.
Your decorations will consist of soft contrasts and you can create flowers with light and dark tones.
Lightening Colors - White-white is used for lightening icing that has been colored too dark. White
buttercream made with butter or margarine can be whitened with white-white paste food color.
Staining - Paste colors can stain teeth, skin and clothing. Washing the area with dish soap and warm
water will remove most color from skin and clothing. Bleach can be used on counter tops to remove
stains In the case of a color that has Red 3 as an ingredient use an acid such as vinegar or lemon
juice to soak the stain first. Continue with lukewarm water.
Bleeding - Usually a result of improper storage or trying to decorate a wet cake. It is not
recommended to ice cakes while they are still frozen, as condensation will form on the cake as it
thaws. Allow the cake to defrost before icing. Putting a decorated cake in the refrigerator or in an air
tight container may encourage condensation to form. Sunlight or fluorescent light will cause some
colors to fade. After the cake is decorated, it is best to keep in a cool room and out of direct light.
Other uses for icing color
Cookie Dough - Knead small amounts of Icing Color into Cookie Dough until desired shade is
reached. Roll out, cut into shapes and bake! Take it one step further by piping decorations on
unbaked cookies using thinned tinted cookie dough. Here's how--Thin a small amount of tinted
dough with 1 teaspoon of water at a time until the thinned dough will pass through a small round
decorating tip. Add outlines, details, and even flowers. Bake following recipe instructions.
Easter Eggs - Create a rainbow of colored eggs; put 1 tsp. Vinegar in 3/4 cup very hot water. Mix in
icing color until the water is a very deep hue. Let water set a few minutes, stir until completely
dissolved, then begin to brighten and color dozens of eggs! Experiment with different colors, using a
test egg to try out different combinations! Your Easter egg-coloring possibilities are endless--even the
Easter bunny couldn't do better!
Bread Dough -- Just add icing color to the dough while kneading!